www.iva.co.uk

I am trying to rent a new property, and have an agreed IVA; but I cannot rent a property because I have a CCJ and have been declared bankrupt. I thought an IVA stopped this?

If this CCJ has been made after the IVA was agreed then I believe it is not valid and would have to be removed. You will have a problem renting anyway as most of the estate agents etc do a credit check and then you fail obviously because your credit history is shot to pieces however you can rent privately and you can also get a reference from your IP showing that you are making your payments which looks better

Hi Paul and welcome.

Do you definitely have an IVA, and have you kept up the payments on it? If so, you can't be declared bankrupt, although you will appear on the insolvency register.

The CCJ should not have been placed on your account after your IVA was approved. I would get in touch with your IP, or supervisor and tell them what has happened.

If you are proposing an IVA after bankruptcy, then this will not alter the fact that you have an impaired credit rating which will stay on record for six years from the date of your bankruptcy order. Have you tried private landlords, who may not be so diligent about credit checking.

Do as Meliane said, try a private landlord, theirs plenty out their, it should not be a problem

And if your IVA is up to date and you have been making regular payments your Supervisor can (in writing)confirm that you are meeting your obligations to any prospective landlord

Hi paulcc44,

I am sure that you may be able to rent, if all of your IVA payments are up to date? As advised, maybe a private landlord would be more welcoming, as long as you are honest about your situation form the start.

Are you sure you're declared bankrupt?

paul - we are in our final year of the iva and rented privately before the iva started but then moved twice this year. we tried through estate agents and had a nightmare paying over £100 each time for a credit check they insisted on and knowing we would fail. Most we told about the iva first but they still insisteed on the checks first anyway and then still said we had bad credit rating to take on.But we fell lucky twice, one which fell through after two months as she un-emigrated so we had to move out but our most recent one we just explained re the iva, showed a letter confirming we have never missed a payment and that it is due to end in November (28th -yippee!) and our landlady agreed to ignore the estate agents advice and take us on as long as we paid six months rent in advance, [plus the bond). We did this by borrowing from family and paying it back monthly to our family. So keep your chin up, renting is possible through agents and without them. You just have to be honest and print off loads of info re ivas as i still find most people haven't a clue what they are and assume they are CCJS / bankruptcy. Also take a reference and a letter from your iva company showing you have kept up payments. There is hope - we should know, we have moved twice in less than a year and managed to find people to risk us as tenants!its a search but there are trusting people out there!

I believe the 'Credit Check' carried out by agents is pretty brain dead and only picks up publicly available information such as bankruptcy and CCJ's.

It's stupid that someone who is bankrupt and therefore has no debts is seen as a worse credit risk than some who might have £200,000 of debt which their dumb system would probably not be able to pick up.

I also think agents are making a nice little sideline on failing people at £100 a time. Theses checks cost the agent around £15 to do I believe = £85 profit.

yeah we tried arguing that but we met a brick wall - all agents insisted on the credit check despite us knowing our score from previous ones and knowing we would fail. It would seem they all work slightly differently. It is also an insurance based thing for the landlord/lady as if you fail the credit check and they still take you on as a tenant, they invalidate their house insurance they are offered free with the estate agents - this obviously is the agents way of making money through the checks and also freaking the landlady/lord out by saying if they take you on and owt happens, they are not covered by them to sort it out - load of rubbish really and as ive said on other posts, if you meet with people and explain that if you breach the iva, you go bankrupt so you wouldnt be that daft to breach it and risk their home over your head anyway, most will still consider you, especially if you show wage slips etc and how you already know how to live on a strict budget. Keep searching mate - guarentee you'll find somewhere!

Hi there

I have been in my new job for about 5 weeks now (Property Lettings) and getting used to all the legalities and rules etc!

I recently let a house to a guy who had been dishcarged from bankruptcy a year ago and it all went through with no problems. He was honest with me from the outset, which is important.

The credit check is as it says but in our case it also searches that you are registered at your current and previous address and also checks on fraud too so its not just a standard check thats done. I spoke to the landlord and confirmed his salary which was good, got references from current landlord and employer which were perfect and this all backed up his ability to afford the property - hence being a 'good' risk. Its all about getting on side with the agent as they can usually have some influence on the landlord, although ultimately it is their decision.

Hope this helps Paul - contact me if you need to ask anything else

Gavin

How is the new job going Gav? We were wondering how you were getting on - what are you doing exactly?

I hope things are going well for you Gav. Will you be at Walsall?

Hi Melanie, Hi Skippy!

Job is going great thanks! I'll be at Walsall - nearly forgot as been so busy so look forward to seeing everyone again!